Improved skate



PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN H. HIBLER, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVED SKATE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 54,344, dated May l, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN H. HEBLEE, of Newport, Campbell county, and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skates, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Y My invention consists in a certain construction of skate wherein the heel and toe are each provided with a separate and distinct runner, andthe body of the skate, to which the runners are rigidly secured, is constructed of thin elastic spring-steel, capable of conforming to the ever-changin g shape of the sole of the boot in the act of skating, the steel body, also, being of such a shape as to forni a support or abutment for heel-fastening device.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a skate embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is 'a longitudinal section of the same.

A is the body of the skate, constructed of thin spring-steel or other elastic material, and adapted to lit exactly the entire surface of the sole and heel of a boot or shoe. For this purpose the plate A is bent rectangularly at the points a, and a', so as to present a vertical shoulder, A. B and C are separate runners,

secured, respectively, to the sole and heel of the body A by rivets b and o. The toe of the skate is secured to the foot in the ordinary way by strap and buckle I) E. The heel of the bodyA is provided with abracket, F, and set-screw G, the latter being adapted to set up and tighten the heel-clip H to the heel of theboot, the vertical shoulder A serving as the support or abutment for the heel-fastening. The clip H is secured to and yet adapted to slide over the skate-body A by means of the dovetail tenon and groove d e.

It will be seen that the body of the skate, being elastic and the heel and toe provided with a separate runner, the heel cannot be forced from its fastening by the bending of the toe of the boot in striking in the act of skating; neither can any forcible pressure on the heel have any tendency to cramp the toes of the wearer or slip the skate to one side. The whole being adapted to coliform exactly to the varying shape of the boot in skating, there can be no alternate strains upon the heel and toe fastenings, as in the common rigid skate, and the skater can operate with less fatigue and with much greater ease.

Though spring-steel is preferred by me as' the material for the construction of the body A, other material, such as plate, wrought-iron, mallable cast-iron, or even wood, may be used.

I claim herein as new and of my invention- A skate composed ofthe following elementsto wit: An elastic plate or sole, A, bent so as to present a vertical shoulder or abutment, A', a divided runner, B O, a heel-clip, H d e, and an adjusting-screw, G, the whole being combined and adapted to operate as set forth.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

BENJAMIN H. HIBLER. Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, JAMEs H. LAYMAN. 

